The Examinerhttps://xavierexaminer.org
The student news site of Xavier College Preparatory High SchoolTue, 18 Dec 2018 04:46:42 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.1Xavier College Prep Has a Wrestling Team?https://xavierexaminer.org/6889/game-highlights/xavier-college-prep-has-a-wrestling-team/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6889/game-highlights/xavier-college-prep-has-a-wrestling-team/#respondMon, 17 Dec 2018 12:52:31 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6889Most Xavier College Prep students are involved in Athletics. There are a total of 13sports that anyone can join. This year Ellisa Jimenez (Freshman) decided to add another sportat Xavier. She started a Wrestling team. The sport hasn’t been made official by Xavier but she wrestles with other teams alone. Ellisa has a passion for wrestling and she wants to make it a part of the Athleticprograms at Xavier.

Ellisa Jimenez, RenWeb

Ellisa stated, “Since I began wrestling in 6th grade, I knew that Iwanted to wrestle at Xavier because I fell in love with this sport. If there wasn’ta team I was going to build one, I always had to be the only girl on the team and that hasdriven me to never stop. Because I’m a girl, I’m pretty sure there are other girls out therethat feel that way too. I chose to be their voice and say, let’s do this.” Ellisa is motivated andwants to accomplish something. She was asked if there’s been any girls that joined her teamand her response was “yes, I had one join but the lack of having an area to practice and short noticeto a season already started drove the teammate to want to put it on pause due to the othersport that they play.” Adding a new sport to the athletic program can be difficult because the school would need to provide the equipment.

Ellisa Jimenez geared up and ready.

Ellisa currently wrestles against other teams alone since her wrestling team was created on short notice. Since her team is new she needs a plan to spread the word. She was asked how she is going to draw in interest. Her response was, ” I tried advertising it at school, and as it drew interest, it quickly fell. The best thing I can do for people to notice bring some banners.” One of Ellisa’s goals is to compete in Oklahoma in March and win Nationals. Ellisa stated, “I believe a step in that direction is a win for the school, myself, and my family and I believe it will bring more attention.”

Ellisa started the wrestling team because she loves the sport. She said, “Wrestling is more than a sport. It’s a lifestyle and is truly rewarding. There are many sports out there but none like this one. Ellisa is hoping for her team to become a success. She already planned her dual meets against the other teams in the valley. She believes it would be great if students gave it an opportunity. Ellisa hopes to accomplish her goals while her time at Xavier.

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6889/game-highlights/xavier-college-prep-has-a-wrestling-team/feed/0Mexican Posadahttps://xavierexaminer.org/6677/showcase/mexican-posada/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6677/showcase/mexican-posada/#respondMon, 17 Dec 2018 12:34:04 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6677A Posada is a commemoration of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in answer to the census requiring people to return to their ‘hometowns’ in order to be counted. Mary was nearing time to give birth. Finding a place to stay was Joseph’s primary concern. However, they could not find a safe place to stay in Bethlehem, so Joseph and Mary found comfort in a stable where Jesus was born. According to the article “Christmas Posadas Tradition in Mexico”, the nine nights of posadas leading up to Christmas represent the nine months that Jesus spent in Mary’s womb and the nine-day journey that it took Joseph and Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It is celebrated in predominantly Spanish-speaking countries, such as Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia. It has even spread to the United States recently.

Posada directly translates to “inn”, “rest”, “lodge” or “shelter” in Spanish. The celebration occurs on each of the nine nights before Christmas from December 16th to the 24th. The Posada in Mexico is made up of hot food and drinks, sweets, piñatas, and music. The posada commences with a procession, where the people light candles and sing Christmas songs, such as “Para Pedir Posada”. There are also re-enactments of the journey in which two people dress up as Mary and Joseph. Often the celebrations start with a prayer service and Bible readings. According to author Suzanne E Barbezat, on each of the nine nights, a different characteristic is held up for reflection. These characteristics are humility, strength, detachment, charity, trust, justice, purity, joy, and generosity. This Mexican Christmas tradition, which has been celebrated for over 400 years is said to have originated from the Augustinian friars of San Agustin de Acolman, around Mexico City, according to author Barbezat. Spanish missionaries tried to convert the Mexican population by teaching the story of Jesus’ birth.

Posada celebrations originally took place in the church, but later evolved into neighborhoods and homes. It slowly took the form of the modern day celebration in which it is celebrated now. Neighborhoods and communities often organize the posadas, and when the annual celebration comes around, friends, families, and neighbors come together to host a Posada at a different home every night. The Posada tradition varies from home to home, but the ultimate purpose is to commemorate Joseph and Mary’s journey and bring the community together.

During the Xavier Posada, hosted on December 7th, Ethan Salazar (’21) played Joseph and Megan Younes (’22) played Mary in the re-enactment. Students, staff, family, and friends all came together to celebrate the Posada, listen to music and enjoy traditional Mexican food, such as tamales, pozole, atole, and pan dulce.

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6677/showcase/mexican-posada/feed/0Students’ Perspective on Senior Synthesis 2018https://xavierexaminer.org/6680/showcase/students-perspective-on-senior-synthesis-2018/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6680/showcase/students-perspective-on-senior-synthesis-2018/#respondMon, 17 Dec 2018 00:12:54 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6680Senior Synthesis is a course that is mandatory for all Seniors to take either their first semester or second semester. The class is taught by Ms.Riddle who loves watching her students grow every day in her class. Senior Synthesis is broken up in sections. Every student has to do four chapters plus other assignments which help pull the entire paper together at the end of the semester. The paper is an insight into the student’s life and is a written biography about the life-changing events and actions that happened. Senior Synthesis asks certain questions that help expand the thought process around a situation. Ms.Riddle’s goal is to help her students be more open to what has happened to them and understand they are not alone. Senior Synthesis is a course that is not provided by all schools. Senior Saints see it as a gift to be able to take this class. Two Seniors, Jace MacConnell and Brianna Bocca, were interviewed about what they thought about first-semester Senior Synthesis.

Jace MacConnell, RenWeb

Jace is mainly grateful for the opportunity for reflective writing about himself and who he truly is. To him, no other courses at Xavier provided this opportunity. His favorite assignment was Chapter One; the start of the synthesis paper where a student explains their formative experiences. A second gratitude is for the peer and mentor readers. Jace thought that having both a peer and a mentor would offer him two different views on his life. Jace feels he’s only been able to see his own point of view. It was a new feeling for others to give him insight about himself. He thought it was a fun class overall, and he enjoyed Ms.Riddle’s teaching ethics and was excited to have her for two years in a row. He also mentioned that being able to take this class first semester really helped with college applications; he felt he already wrote for the class what he needed to say for each school. The class management helped Jace reach his deadlines on time and taught him how to be organized which is exactly what is necessary to start the college application process. Jace was very happy with his experience in Senior Synthesis.

Brianna Bocca, RenWeb

Brianna Bocca walked away from this class knowing what made her closer to or what causes her to stray away from God. She is grateful for taking Senior Synthesis; it allowed her to evaluate her experiences and brought her closer to God. She is happy she wrote her Synthesis paper first semester because she knew she would be having a hard time keeping up knowing she is almost done with being a Senior in high school. Brianna felt Ms.Riddle really help her students to articulate themes that were present in their life experiences. This allowed Brianna to open up about her situations and form her entire synthesis paper. Her peer response showed her how much people truly care about another’s life experiences. The peer reader process helped Brianna feel closer to the people around her. She also realized, when she started her college applications, that she figured out how she really wanted to present herself to colleges. Overall, Brianna ended the semester with a closer relationship with God and new realizations with her stories.

Both of these students offer helpful insights to anyone starting second-semester Senior Synthesis. Jace and Brianna equally enjoyed this class and appreciated everything it had to offer. They are grateful for Ms.Riddle’s insight through their journeys. Jace and Brianna both recommended not putting off any assignments. In their combined opinion, it’s best to get assignments done throughout the week.

Ms.Riddle is a great person and teacher. She is open to anyone to come in and talk to especially if you are ever stressed. She loves her students and tries to understand everything they go through. Xavier offers many other amazing courses but Senior Synthesis is special to the soon to be graduates.

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6680/showcase/students-perspective-on-senior-synthesis-2018/feed/0Effects of California Fire Are Far Reachinghttps://xavierexaminer.org/6679/perspectives/effects-of-california-fire-are-far-reaching/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6679/perspectives/effects-of-california-fire-are-far-reaching/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 23:53:42 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6679California has suffered from 8,434 fires in total this past year occurring across the entire state. All of these fires combined burned a total of 1,890,438 acres. There were three major fires blazing in November: the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA; the Hill Fire in Ventura County; the Woolsey Fire west of Los Angeles. All three of these fires were deadly and destructive, but the Camp Fire produced the most destruction and caused the most deaths.

Camp Fire burning a building. (Photo by David Grossman)

Paradise, California, the site of Camp Fire, is located about 90 miles North of Sacramento. The fire started on November 8 when an uninsulated jumper cable made contact with the PG&E tower, sending hot material into dry vegetation and sparking the fire. Susan Miller of USA Today reported that “At least 85 people have been killed; 249 are listed as missing. Nearly 19,000 buildings, most of them homes, have been destroyed.” The Camp Fire is the most destructive fire ever recorded to burn in California.

Smoke clouds the sky in Paradise, CA. A telephone wire is knocked down and a car is burned. (Photo by GETTY)

Xavier Alumni Chris Quagliani talked about the Camp Fire to the Xavier Examiner staff. He attends the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, California full-time. Although Quagliani lives 160 miles away from Paradise, his area and campus had to follow dramatic protocol to keep students and residents safe. Quagliani said, “Even though the fire was over one hundred miles from campus, it was difficult to breathe outside. My classes were canceled once the AQI (air quality index) got to 200, and the AQI actually got over 260.”

As the air quality got worse in the Bay area, people had to protect themselves from the harm of the thick and toxic air. Quagliani said, “I had to buy masks for myself to wear whenever I went outside so I wasn’t breathing in the hazardous air.” The Bay area was affected, but Paradise was destroyed. Chris continued, “Some of my friends have homes in Northern California and their families had to evacuate. Luckily, none of them actually lost their homes.” The Camp Fire truly made life difficult for hundreds of thousands of people in the immediate area and in places up to two hundred miles away.

San Francisco bridge is clouded with smoke and ash. (Photo by John G. Mabanglo)

The Camp Fire has been 100% contained for a few weeks now, but the threat of more fires sparking is severe. Quagliani, when asked if he worries if more fires will start in his area, said, “It’s unpredictable, but the current dryness in the area may be in favor of more fires occurring. The amount of rain that this area has received this past week might help reduce the chances of fires, but not by much.”

As Global Warming and Climate Change continue to be political issues in today’s society, there is no doubt that natural disasters will be seen more frequently. The fires California has faced this past year alone have destroyed over one million acres, and more fires may happen in the future. What California needs now is rain that will moisten the soil and plants in high fire danger areas. As Quagliani’s experience showed, these fires affect people well beyond the immediate areas of the fires. It is important for people to help the cause of fighting wildfires in any way they can. People can help by donating to the Red Cross or CalFund. These organizations will be donating money to those who lost homes and businesses due to the Camp Fire, the worst fire in California history.

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6679/perspectives/effects-of-california-fire-are-far-reaching/feed/0Chinese Scientist Claims First Gene-Edited Babieshttps://xavierexaminer.org/6654/global-issues/chinese-scientist-claims-first-gene-edited-babies/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6654/global-issues/chinese-scientist-claims-first-gene-edited-babies/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 23:41:57 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6654In late November, Dr. He Jiankui, a biophysics researcher at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, shocked the scientific community when he announced that he had created the first genetically altered humans – a pair of twins nicknamed Lulu and Nana. He used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to alter their genes before they were born in an attempt to make them immune to HIV. Concerns are, however, that genetic alterations could lead to unforeseen health complications for the twins later in life, and could lead to genetic mutations being introduced into the gene pool in the future.

The Southern University of Science in Technology, where He Jiankui is a professor

He Jiankui’s announcement created controversy and backlash, as scientists worldwide condemned his actions as reckless and a step too far. Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said, “Everything that’s emerged over the last week only adds to the concern about this having been a deeply unfortunate, misguided misadventure of the most dramatic sort. It was shocking at the time. A week later, it’s still shocking.”

Dr. Gaetan Burgio of the Australian National University, in an interview with Popular Mechanics, stated that He Jiankui’s lack of transparency in the experiment means that “we don’t know what has been done to [the children’s] genes.”

He Jiankui at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing on November 28th

“If this were a mouse,” Burgio continued, “I would not be concerned. But we’re talking about kids.”

Chinese officials have cut funding to He Jiankui’s future research and also decried his actions, claiming that they had no knowledge of the experiment. He Jiankui’s alma mater, Rice University, has released a statement that the work “violates scientific conduct guidelines and is inconsistent with the ethical norms of the scientific community and Rice University.”

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6654/global-issues/chinese-scientist-claims-first-gene-edited-babies/feed/0Jay is Backhttps://xavierexaminer.org/6692/athletics/jay-is-back/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6692/athletics/jay-is-back/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 23:27:43 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6692On September 29, 2018, Matthew Shupp (Freshman) Kai Killebrew (Junior) and Jaylen Rushin (Sophomore) had an unfortunate accident while driving late at night, resulting in the hospitalization of Kai and Jaylen. Kai was back on track within the next month, but Jay had a longer recovery process, taking it much slower than Kai did. Information about Jay’s recovery continued to be shared but seemed quieter as he moved to Loma Linda Hospital. But that all changed at the Basketball team’s home game against Coachella Valley.

Jay’s injury and his recovery had a serious impact on the basketball team, derailing their inclinations for success. Coaches and the greater Xavier community surrounded the team with love and support. It was still hard. But with a season at hand, the missing piece of the team’s missing piece reappeared for the game against Coachella Valley. According to Varsity Head Coach Justin Sobczyk, “The whole energy changes as soon as Jay walks into the locker room. I truly believe he is a big reason we have been so successful early this season.”

Jaylen has been to every single home game since the one against Coachella Valley, serving as the energy booster of the team. He has been sitting behind the bench with his mother, cheering every time we score and joining in on the team’s huddles and prayers. Not only is the crowd’s cheering aimed towards the team, but it has affected Jay as well. Jaylen Rushin stated that “it feels very good that my peers are in the crowd cheering me on too because I’ve missed all of the energy that they give me.”

Jay and Mr. Alling.

Jaylen has made a remarkable recovery and plans on coming back much better than before. He aims to make a full recovery and is already preparing for next year–more fully participating, helping the team as he has before. Jay shared, “I started playing again. I’ve been in the gym just working on my shot, getting my handles tighter and getting my basketball IQ higher than it used to be.” Everyone has minor setbacks, but Jay is not letting this one stop him from achieving his goal of excelling in basketball.

Xavier Saints–GO SAINTS!

Jay’s energy is in full effect, helping the team to its terrific 10-2 start in their first DEL game, but his physical attributes are still missing. According to Xavier Guard Joshua Clark, Junior, “Jay is a very aggressive player. He is never afraid to take it to the basket and his shot was also good.” His talents will be worked back into Xavier’s rotation, implementing all the potential that Jay can give.

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6692/athletics/jay-is-back/feed/0Preparing For The Christmas Concerthttps://xavierexaminer.org/6712/culture/the-christmas-concert/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6712/culture/the-christmas-concert/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 23:06:24 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6712The Christmas concert is a welcoming place to be with the holidays coming up. Countless Orchestra, Pep Band, and Jazz practices have been spent preparing for the Christmas season.

Carlos Aceves, RenWeb

Many students have just started to play their instrument and have been enjoying it since they started. Carlos Aceves says, “I play the saxophone and I realized that I liked it because of the type of smooth sound it produced and jazz is just for me.”

Cassiday Ward, RenWeb.

Cassidy Ward, Junior, plays for the Orchestra and says, “I play the violin, and I realized once I actually made a nice sound come out of the instrument. I was able to play songs and enjoy them.” Having a devotion to your instrument is the first step to getting better. Wanting to practice every day makes you a sharper performer.

Valentino Kadile, RenWeb.

Valentino Kadile, Junior, plays for Jazz and Pep Band. Tino mentions, “I play alto saxophone in both pep band and jazz band.” He loves it because of the range in pitches and how any song can be played. Playing at this concert is an important part of the orchestra, jazz, and pep band even more than just learning the instrument.

Preparing can be one of the most important tasks for improving a student. Some of the struggles have been as simple as one note or being nervous because of stage fright. Valentino Kadile says, “We have been preparing for this event since the first week of school. For Pep Band, it has been easy for some, since it is the same as last year. However, we had a hard time staying on a beat.” To overcome this problem, many students have been maximizing their class time and trying to perfect their instrument. Nicholas Vallejo, Junior, also plays for the Orchestra and says his struggle is just learning how to keep up with the tempo. He has overcome that by practicing. Practicing can lead to some amazing future results even though the process might feel slow.

Everyone has a goal for what they expect for their team. Valentino shared his goals: “for Pep Band, we hope to rock the roof off with Zach’s guitar solo and really kill it with the trumpets. For Jazz, we hope that our timing is perfect and that the audience starts tapping their feet.” He believes the song Moondance will really get the audience to interact by clapping their hands and tapping their feet. Carlos Aceves said his goal is to sound smooth and ultimately like a real jazz band. Cassidy Ward stated that her goal for everyone in the orchestra is to play their instruments with perfection.

Xavier Saints are taking advantage of this Winter Break! From Canada to Guatemala, to Montana, our students are traveling to meet family and celebrate the Holidays! With the stress of finals approaching, students are looking forward to their upcoming trips. Junior Andres Arias has traveled to Guatemala for the past six years. This break, he will reunite with his whole family and experience Christmas and New Years at the beach.

“Perched” Photo by Zach Dischner

Senior Jenna Braun is going to Lake Tahoe and Montana to visit her family. She shares that she is not prepared for the 25° F to 40° freezing weather. Jenna is most looking forward to reuniting with family that lives in Lake Tahoe and skiing! She said, “This annual trip makes me so excited because I can experience the holidays with the people I love and have a white Christmas in the snow.”

“London Bridge, Lake Havasu, Arizona” Photo by Iris Donovan

Freshman Cailee Johnson will travel to Havasu, Arizona for New Year’s. This trip is a family tradition on her dad’s side. Cailee loves to go off-roading and hang out with her family and friends. Her favorite holiday memory is baking Christmas cookies with her family. She is ready to leave the desert for Winter Break.

“Carol Singing” Photo by Herry Lawford

Lloyd DeKlotz is staying home for the holidays. His most-valued tradition is going Christmas Caroling in Coachella and singing songs for the Church. This quality time he spends with his family makes the holidays much more special. He also collects a new ugly sweater each year to wear on Christmas Eve.

As we all look forward to our Winter Break travels, let’s keep the holiday spirit alive by being friendly, sharing love, and spreading cheer. Whichever holiday you are celebrating and wherever you are traveling, have a wonderful time out of school and spend time with family. Saints, remember to stay positive and enjoy Winter Break!

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6674/culture/holiday-cheer-around-the-globe/feed/0Xavier Athletics Within Local Mediahttps://xavierexaminer.org/6730/features/xavier-athletics-within-local-media-2/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6730/features/xavier-athletics-within-local-media-2/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 22:29:10 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6730In the few months since the school’s been back in session, our sports and school spirit are at an all-time high. The stands are packed with members of the Vatican cheering on our athletes and demonstrating immense school pride. Athletic Director Mark Campbell notes that he has seen “More unity and support within our programs than in my previous seven years!” The dedicated student-athletes wait in anticipation for the news articles covering their games to go live. Their hard work is recognized on a local level. The hours of practice spent and sacrifices made for their sport are acknowledged and appreciated, or so they thought. Varsity Volleyball Captain, Jillian Whitcomb, read an article by local reporter Shad Powers concerning the match against Palm Desert with a truly appalled look on her face.

Her skill and effort acknowledgment lasted all of one sentence only to be overshadowed by the word “technicality”. I was determined to read the article she found so troubling; thus, an investigation ensued. The aforementioned article discussed the anticipation of the game and energy within the gym; the article was derailed by a description of a misawarded point. Essentially, Shad Powers, the Desert Sun reporter covering the match, believed a point was misawarded with no proper reconciliation. This singular point of a game overshadowed the upwards of 120 minutes of the game played and altered the tone of the entire article, casting a dubious light on the Xavier team. From a Saint’s point of view, the article depicted the star athletes winning on the distress of the opposing team after losing a non-crucial point to a technicality. More students read the article; the feeling of being appalled spread. I must confess; this sparked interest and further investigation of our local news sites past coverage concerning Xavier sports. My initial reaction was confirmed spread as an increasing number of the Xavier student body read the article. This school-wide feeling warranted a response. The underrepresentation of Xavier athletes” talents and skills have been systematically downplayed by our local news outlet the Desert Sun, specifically articles written by Michigan native Shad Powers.

I scoured the internet for background on this influential sports reporting member of our community. I found Powers has a sarcastic and keen sense of humor with a tendency towards self-depreciation; especially in regards to his piece “Never Been Dissed Until Now” detailing his own high school career.

Shad Powers of The Desert Sun

Sufficiently intrigued, I felt an interview was necessary. Our local reporter was more than cooperative. Mr. Powers graciously agreed to an interview and discussed his path to journalism. He found this path through a love of sports and a self-reported lack of sufficient skill to compete at the collegiate level. Thus his love of sports translated into a career in sports reporting. Powers walked through his reporting process as describing each game or match as if he were giving a summary to a friend.

This storytelling approach came into play when discussing the Xavier vs. Palm Desert Volleyball article. The main focus is a misawarded point, leaving our Lady Saints feeling discredited and cheated. When approaching this article from a Saint’s perspective, the article is met with outrage not only from the volleyball team but also the student body. However, Powers explained, it was a crucial moment for the crowd as well. Everyone in the stands saw the argument take place between the Palm Desert coach and referee. According to Mr. Powers, The game could not have been retold without the disgruntled argument and still done the game justice. However, the speculation present with words such as “may” and “perhaps” appear to show sympathy and bias towards Palm Desert. Mr. Powers justified his word choice by saying “It was intended to describe the mindset of the crowd and player.”

This theme continues throughout all Desert Sun articles pertaining to Xavier athletics, including the “Five Teams to Watch” article, in which Xavier is described as the “loftiest,” “most loaded,” and “having club players all over”. The conclusion drawn by many Saints regarding this article was that the athletes were only competitive due to their ability to participate in club volleyball, unlike athletes from other local high schools. This heavily implies that this additional skill was acquired due to a family’s ability to pay, rather than a student’s work ethic.

This creates an elitist, misrepresented image of Xavier as a whole, as nearly 60% of our students, according to Xavier Athletic Director Mark Campbell, are on some form of financial aid. The sense of injustice in reporting carried over to Water Polo. Two of the Saints’ athletes, Kyle Cenicola and Justin Wickstrand, were listed as top athletes, but their descriptions lacked the impressive statistics present in the descriptions of non-Xavier athletes. The Saints have been done a disservice. Xavier student-athletes dedicate their passion, drive, loyalty, and love for Xavier into their sports and academics, making Xavier a focal point of their identities. Impartial reporting is expected.

This story needed to be shared. The misrepresentation of our athletes had to be confronted and resolved. In this case, bias needed to be left at the door. Throughout the course of the interview with Mr. Powers, he displayed nothing but respect for our athletes, which was honestly quite shocking. Each article referenced above was, in fact, intended as a compliment towards our athletes. The volleyball girls are a force to be reckoned with. They dedicate immense amounts of time to their sport, and it shows on the court as they claim the title of DEL Champs with an undefeated season. The comments made about the “loaded team” were intended as a testament to the talent present on our court and not about insinuating the majority of our players having the financial ability to play on club teams. The Water Polo Boys lack individual stats, Powers explained, because they work as a cohesive unit as Coach Pavol instills in all of his athletes. “They are a balanced team, individually they may not have impressive stats but they are strong when working as a unit.”

Upon questioning Mr. Powers, it became clear that he was unaware of the Saint perspective in reading the articles “I am saddened to hear they were taken that way, that is not how they were intended.” I invited Shad Powers to see the family-centric Xavier community in action. Our athletes were displaying a show of love for their brothers and sisters when expressing concerns over the Desert Sun stories. The Saint’s perspective is one of a man or woman with and for others. Our student-athletes are dedicated, cohesive, and upstanding pillars of our community and serve as ambassadors within our greater community and deserve to be portrayed as such. Many thanks to Shad Powers for his cooperation and input.

“NEVER BEEN DISSED-UNTIL NOW.” NEVER BEEN DISSED-UNTIL NOW | Chicken Soup for the Soul, 2 July 2014, www.chickensoup.com/book-story/50568/never-been-dissed-until-now.

]]>https://xavierexaminer.org/6730/features/xavier-athletics-within-local-media-2/feed/0The College Chasehttps://xavierexaminer.org/6732/showcase/the-college-chase/
https://xavierexaminer.org/6732/showcase/the-college-chase/#respondSun, 16 Dec 2018 22:00:37 +0000https://xavierexaminer.org/?p=6732It’s December of Senior year, and you’re either one of two people: drinking hot chocolate by the fireplace while waiting to hear back from your dream school or recovering from your latest mental breakdown the night of a college application deadline. The process of applying to college is stressful, yes, but most students aren’t prepared for what lies ahead of them. Janey Castoe, a Junior at Xavier, witnessed the college application process first-hand from her sister who was a Senior last year. Janey discussed her concerns for Senior year, “I’m scared about what the colleges are looking for in my essays. I know the process is time-consuming.” Niko Tudor, also in the Junior class, shared, “In the past, procrastination got the best of me. I’m worried that the same problem will occur in my Senior year.” Most Juniors are aware of the notorious stress that senior year evokes, yet have no clue what the process of applying to college entails. A good beginning step is to visit college and university campuses in which you have an interest.

Senior Bree Oandasan visits Loyola Marymount University after submitting her final application.

Xavier Seniors have different understandings and perspectives of this process. One Senior, Brianna Bocca, started her college applications at the beginning of October. To her, the work that colleges required was time-consuming and made Senior year one of the hardest years of high school so far. “[The essays] take a creative part of you. They’re nothing like the ones you wrote in English class. It’s difficult to portray your entire self in less than 350 words.” Brianna finished her applications at the end of November and is now using her free time to study for finals.

Senior Kiana Rodriguez celebrates her first acceptance into college

Kiana Rodriguez, another Senior at Xavier, described her time with college applications as a prolonged period of time as well. She wishes that someone would have told her to start the college application process sooner rather than later. “Time constraints don’t help in this situation. The more time you have, the more confident you will be in yourself and your writing.”

As for myself, I found the college application process demanding, yet liberating. Some nights consisted of mental breakdowns, but for the most part, I was able to balance my school workload with my applications. I would recommend getting a headstart on your essays the summer before Senior year. It might appear that your personal statement is the only essay you need to write and then you’re done, but that’s not all. Depending on the number of colleges you apply to, most require writing supplements that you wouldn’t be aware of until you began the actual application. The work can seem daunting and impossible at times, but once you turn in the last application, the waiting game begins. Breathe.